Imaging is needed both to check for boulder fields and other obstacles, as well as checking the scientific justification for choosing a site. This image is one part of what we call a stereo observation, where taking a view at a different angle from another orbit of the same areas will allow a 3D model (a digital terrain model) to be prepared. With this model, accurate measurements of slopes can then be made. Although it won't show the exhumed alluvial system, images of the area are needed to characterize the landing site.

The main image of the Aram Dorsum site contains a relatively fresh, 150-meter diameter impact crater with associated boulders. This small (1 kilometer square) part also shows signs of erosion into an overlying plateau, plus recent formation of some transverse aeolian ridges (called TARs) within the resulting valley. Overall, however, the site has relatively few obstacles for a lander.

HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Wallpaper

Applying Wallpaper:
1. Click on the screen resolution you would like to use.
2. Right-click on the image (control-click on a Mac) and select the option 'Set the Background' or 'Set as Wallpaper' (or similar).